


Always Win your Battles

by FunkyWashingMachine



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Arrogance, Gen, Humor, Hypocrisy, Rivalry, Unfortunate Implications
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 18:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21058724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FunkyWashingMachine/pseuds/FunkyWashingMachine
Summary: Zote and Tiso size each other up in the Colosseum





	Always Win your Battles

They put him in a cage because that's what they did with all their strongest warriors. It was to keep them from killing the competition before the time was right.

And they were most correct to think he could have! But Zote the Mighty was not so coarse as to do that. It was a show those bugs up there wanted, and it was a show they were going to get.

He could have picked the lock with his deadly and trusted Life Ender, but that would run the risk of blunting its sharp edge. He was nothing if not conscious of his nail's condition. It was a great warrior that served his nail, just as a nail served its warrior.

There were many bugs with him in that room, many bugs waiting to taste the pain of his deadly and beautiful Life Ender. They were shaking with fear, and he couldn't blame them, he too would have been afraid to face someone like him. But he wasn't facing someone like him, he WAS him, and he could tell just by looking that he was the most competent warrior of the group. Which of course was normal for him. There really wasn't much thrill to being Zote when no one could compare to him.

He scanned the room another time. Maybe, upon another look, he would see a bug worthy of being his rival. If he dared to hope so much.

His eyes met those of a puny-looking bug in a hood. It was staring at him, doubtlessly sizing up its chances of surviving against him.

"What are you looking at?" Zote said to the inferior bug.

The bug traced a finger along the shell it was carrying (only cowards hid behind shells! True warriors put their OWN bodies on the line in battle!).

"I don't know," said the hooded bug. "Something that doesn't look like it belongs in this trial of warriors."

"Pah!" Zote spat. It was crucial to keep other bugs from laughing at you, but right now it was THIS bug who warranted being laughed at. "That is your foolish mistake. You see, I, Zote the Mighty, have traveled many lands and slain many foes, larger and more fearsome than yourself."

"If you say so," said the bug, looking somewhere other than him. How disgraceful. One should respect their superiors.

"So it's proof you want?" Zote said. "Well, you'll certainly find proof when you see what I'm capable of out there."

"Hmph," said the bug. "Only a fool would speak so highly of his skill. I'll crush you if they put us together.”

What an arrogant bug. This arrogance, Zote suspected, was a factor in whatever his weakness was. It was good to be aware of the enemy's weakness, and fortunately Zote didn't have any of his own.

"Did they put you in a cage so you wouldn't run away?" said the hooded bug, entirely unprovoked.

"You think to laugh at me, but you are highly mistaken," Zote said.

"I'm not laughing. It's too pathetic to be funny."

Another bug might have had their feelings hurt by that, but Zote had feelings that could not be hurt. That was to say, he did not have feelings.

"Your prattling is tiresome," Zote said. "As a warrior, you should know that one must rest before a battle, and that is what I am doing."

"Yes, you'd better do that," said the hooded bug.

Zote could have hated that bug, but it wasn't worth it to hate something that was nowhere close to being your equal. He wasn't even worth staining the Life Ender with his blood.

At some point during his warrior's rest, a bug came down from above and all the fighters perked to attention. It shambled wordlessly through the crowd, then pointed at the hooded stranger.

"Well then," the hooded bug said, looking at Zote and picking up his cowardly shell. "See you on the other side. If you last so long."

Zote gripped the Life Ender. He certainly would.


End file.
